Pieces of the Puzzle
by Wyoming
Summary: He didn’t know much about her family or her childhood friends, but she never really let him in much when it came to that type of information. Now he found himself wanting to know more and more about her. H/Cam
1. Chapter 1

Title: Pieces of the Puzzle

Rating: T (language)

Author: Wyoming

Pairing: House/Cameron

Summary: He didn't know much about her family or her childhood friends, but she never really let him in much when it came to that type of information. Now he found himself wanting to know more and more about her. House/Cam

A/N: No, it's not beta'd, no, I don't care. If you catch a mistake, good for you, tell me in a review and I'll change it. All the collages mentioned are real, mainly because I only live about 40 minutes from where House is set. Rowan is closer to where I live, USP is about 15 minutes from me, and UMDNJ is right across from where I volunteer at Cooper University Hospital. UMDNJ University of Medicine and Dentestry of New Jersey.

There she was, sitting in that same lab chair that she always sat in. He was reminded of the time he caught her crying in this room. The same room that she was in right now. She was crying. _Damn._

Why was she crying? He'd invited her to work for him again, she'd accepted. He told her that he'd be nicer and that she would never do his clinic duty again. She'd have a closer parking spot, more money and better benefits. Both of them knew that he would never be nicer. That was just something he'd thrown in there to make it sound better. She didn't want any of the other stuff either. She told herself that she'd done it because she didn't like the ER, that she missed diagnosing the patients. That's what she told herself.

He invited her back because she's a good doctor, well, actually, she's a great doctor. She's pretty, she's smart, she's caring, everything a doctor has to be. Well, not has to be, but at least is a nice quality to have. He enjoyed having her back on the team. He was able to fire 13, and kept the other two men. He didn't like 13 anymore, he just aggravated her to the point where he grew tired of her. _I don't need change_ he had thought.

Every time he saw her in this room, he was reminded of her past, at least what she had told him of it. He didn't know much about her family or her childhood friends, but she never really let him in much when it came to that type of information. Now he found himself wanting to know more and more about her.

"Why are you crying?"

Teary blue-green eyes met cerulean blue ones. She wiped her tears away quickly and turned back to her microscope. "My eyes are tearing from staring into the microscope for so long."

"Sure, that's why you're eyes are red and puffy, like you've been wiping them. I know I don't like the clinic, but I can diagnose the small things too," he said gruffly.

Allison turned around and faced him. "Why do you care? Why can't you just focus on your other puzzles, and not me? Maybe I don't want to be figured out!"

House was a bit surprised at her sudden outburst. He just stared at her and tapped his cane on the floor. Thirty seconds later and still no words said, he popped two vicodin to break the awkwardness. "Want to get something to eat?" he asked. He must have caught her off guard because her jaw hung slightly.

"You mean like, go out to eat?"

"Yeah sure, you eat, I eat, might as well do it together."

_God he's an ass, I love him so much._ "Okay. Where are we going to go?" she asked.

"Where do you want to go?"

"You're letting me pick?" She was really surprised at his sudden relinquishment of power. When she saw him with Wilson, he always picked the place. He wanted to be somewhere familiar, somewhere he knew, so that in case anything happened, he had an out. She didn't want to give him an out this time.

"Yes, I'm letting you pick."

"My place." This was bold, she knew that, she quite honestly didn't care. If she wanted House to be out of his element, what better place than her own home? She could make them lunch, and she could get close to him, really corner him in.

"Okay, come on." He nodded to the door with his head and then walked out, then turned around outside of the glass door, waiting for her to follow. She was still watching him, trying to make sure that she wasn't dreaming this. Finally, she gathered herself and then got up and left the room, leaving the slide under the microscope where it was.

The ride had been taken on his bike, he had insisted. She didn't mind. She liked her arms being wrapped tightly around him, knowing that if she let go of him, she would die. He liked the sense of being needed. The fact that she would die if she let go was the best feeling in the world. He wanted that feeling emotionally too. He wanted to tell her how he felt, but his hard outer core was too much of an asshole to let her in.

They finally arrived at her apartment, where she fiddled with the keys before finally finding the right one. House had been to her apartment before, but he'd never really taken a look at it. If he hadn't known whose apartment it was when he walked inside, he would have easily been able to guess that it was hers. It looked like her. It was insanely neat and clean, the walls were a neutral color, just like her makeup always was. She had a bookshelf with hundreds of books on it in one corner next to the couch, and in another corner, a treadmill. He imagined her running on it, and had to quickly think of something before his pants reflected what he was thinking about.

Cameron placed her keys on the table and went straight for the kitchen. She washed her hands and then pulled out two rolls. She made something close to the Reuben that he always had for lunch. Obviously she didn't have exactly what was needed to make one, but she did her best to match it. She then made a turkey sandwich for herself, and added some chips to both of their plates. She poured two sodas and then walked back into the living room and placed their meals and drinks on the coffee table in front of the couch, since she didn't have a proper dining table.

House wasn't sitting yet, he had still been looking around her apartment. She sat down and started eating, as if he wasn't even in the room. He looked at her and then sat down, looking at his sandwich, deciding to go through it thoroughly before eating it.

"What are you doing?" she asked him, wondering why he was leafing through his sandwich.

"I'm inspecting it, making sure that you didn't poison it." Cameron just rolled her eyes and kept eating her sandwich.

"Why did you want to eat with me?" she asked him. There had to be ulterior motives to his asking her out to lunch.

"Can't I just say that we're having lunch between co-workers?"

"No, House doesn't just have 'lunch with co-workers'. What piece of my puzzle are you after now?"

"Your childhood." His bluntness had earned him a slack-jawed look from Cameron.

"What do you want to know about my childhood?" she asked, her sandwich abandoned for now. He had just picked his own up and started eating it.

"What it was like, what your parents were like, if you had any siblings, if daddy touched you in your naughty place…" It was such a House remark, and it didn't go unnoticed by Cameron, but she also didn't react in a way that a normal person would. She knew that it was something House used as an escape plan. He didn't want things to get too serious so he had to add something in there to spice it up.

She didn't know why she answered him, she told herself it was just because she didn't want him nagging to her, but she decided that she just wasn't going to acknowledge the fact that she was doing it because she wanted him to know about her.

"I lived with my mom when I was little. She was my best friend. Dad was there, but he worked a lot for a company that made him travel all over the world. He used to bring me all sorts of cool presents from all different countries, but I always told him that I just wanted him there. That's why I went through so many boyfriends, I was searching for a male figure in my life, because my dad wasn't there to give me one. It was my downfall, though. When I was a senior in high school, I was dating a guy that I thought I really liked. About a month and a half into the relationship, he started getting abusive. My mom didn't notice at first, but when I made my first ER visit, she took me out of that high school and moved me into a private school. He went to jail and I never saw him again, but that was just the beginning.

"I got to college, and moved about three hours away from home. I almost went to Princeton, but I ended up going to Rowan instead, my grandmother had gone there, which I didn't even know until she told me that it used to be called "Gloucester College". I was proud of myself. I went to a college that my family was proud of. About three months into my sophomore year, I started dating a guy that I was with until the end of my junior year. I was with him for exactly a year and a half, and that was when he started getting abusive. He was worse, he would get me drunk first, and then he'd hit me around like a rag doll. I went to the ER several times. On my third trip, I met a woman who was in the same position as I was. She was worse than I was. The next day, I saw her sitting up, staring at the wall. She said 'get out while you can'. A half an hour later, I was woken up by her machines, she died that morning. That's when I decided I wanted to go to med school, so I went to the University of the Sciences in Philadelphia. I stopped dating. I finished my senior year at USP, and then I went to UMDNJ. I met my husband at my first job. And well….you know that story."

Cameron took a deep breath and then looked up at him. He was finished his sandwich. She felt better, actually. She had wanted to tell someone about that for a long time, but no one would listen. House hadn't interjected, as she thought he would, he'd just listened to her. She was glad.

She looked down at her sandwich, and when she looked back up, he was standing. "Thanks for lunch," he said, and without a word, he left for the hospital, leaving her to ponder what he seemed to want to say.

TBC………

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	2. Chapter 2

Thank you to all who reviewed! Your reviews are awesome, they keep me writing! The faster you review, the faster you get a chapter!

This next one is a bit angsty, but I promise in the next few chapters, it will be a little more uplifting, and if you have any suggestions, feel free!

_**Chapter 2**_

Allison Cameron was not a very high maintenance woman. All she wanted was to love someone, and have someone love her. She was usually very content and didn't wear her heart on her sleeve for the most part. Well, at least she didn't wear her heart on her sleeve while she was at work, but right now, she was in the privacy of her home, and she didn't have anyone to hide from.

It had been almost a week since House had left her apartment. Just like House always did, he pretended that nothing had happened, and went on insulting her like he always did. Little did he know that he was slowly pushing her to the brink of depression. She was sat upon her windowsill, a half empty bottle of vodka in her hand. She wasn't drunk, she wouldn't let herself do that. She had work the next morning, and the last time she'd gone to work slightly inebriated, it hadn't ended well. She didn't want House breathing down her neck, or anyone else for that matter.

She heard a knock on her door, that unmistakable sound of wood against wood. It was House. She didn't answer it, she didn't want to see him. He knocked again, and she still didn't answer it. A few moments passed, and she didn't hear anything, but a few minutes later, she heard something being put into her lock. She turned around, and there was House, standing there, staring at her.

"Planning a panty raid?" Cameron asked, not surprised that he'd broken into her home.

"I saw you in the window, I knew you were here. I figured if you weren't going to answer the door then I should find another way in, figures you keep a key under the mat, how cliché."

"Go away House," she said with a sigh, and pressed her head against the glass window. He looked at the bottle in her hand and felt a slight pang of guilt. It went away quickly.

"You seem distracted at work, I wanted to know why you're being so hormonal all the time."

Cameron turned to him and had a look of pure disbelief. "You're kidding, right?" she asked him, looking into his beautiful blue eyes. His face was blank, and couldn't be more serious.

"Does this look like a joking face?" he asked her as he gestured to his face with his cane.

The petite brunette laughed a little and then shook her head. "You want to know why I'm being so "hormonal"?" she asked, putting the word hormonal in air quotations. House just nodded and then Cameron stood up. "You are the reason I'm being so hormonal!" No change in House's face. It was like none of the words she said had any kind of effect on him. "You come to lunch with me last week, let me pick the place and everything, you got my hopes up, I thought maybe you were interested again, and then I find out that all you wanted to do was figure out the next piece of my puzzle. Then you ignored me for a week and now you're here asking me what's wrong with me. YOU are what's wrong with me, House. You."

"You didn't have to answer me. I asked you about your childhood and you openly told me about it. You can't blame me for how you're feeling because you brought yourself upon it."

Cameron's eyes widened. "And you think that if I'd told you no, you would have just said okay and then let it go? No, you would have poked and prodded until you got what you wanted. You always get what you want, House. It doesn't matter who or what is in your way, you even get around the law. I don't know what makes you so damned special but it sure as hell doesn't give you any right to break into my apartment and tell me that I brought this upon myself!"

A sigh escaped the diagnostician's lips as he pondered what to say next. He felt his leg start to throb with pain, it didn't go unnoticed by her. She sighed and then guided him to the couch. No matter how much she told herself that she hated him, she knew that she never would. She knew that he would always hold a special piece of her heart for him.

He followed her guidance and sat down on the couch. He looked at her with questioning eyes, and then let out a small groan as she started to message his thigh. He could smell her strawberry shampoo, and her usual perfume. He wanted to deny that he liked this, but his feelings overcame his pride for once.

Cameron, on the other hand, was completely surprised that he was letting her do this. She knew his thigh was an extremely sensitive subject, even if he made jokes about being a cripple. It was what damaged him. It was a piece to his puzzle that everyone knew about. Maybe that's why he liked figuring out puzzles, because his own was so obvious that he wanted to know what other people's were like.

She kept messaging his leg for a while. It had gone on for a good twenty minutes before he finally stopped her, just by putting one of his hands over hers. He gave her a nod of thanks and she took the hint. She sat next to him and sighed. "I don't want you to figure me out anymore."

"I have to, it's who I am. Besides, if I didn't figure you out, who would I have left? The wombat doesn't have anything to figure out, and Foreman isn't interesting."

"What about Wilson?"

"I figured him out a long time ago. He's given up by now and just tells me everything that's going on."

Cameron sighed and then tucked her legs up to her chin. House looked over and couldn't help but think how cute it was. He was trying to push these thoughts out of his mind, but somehow he kept finding her more and more attractive each minute that passed by. He wanted to hold her in his arms and…no, no he didn't. She was his subordinate, neither of them could do that, that would just be unethical.

Then again, since when did he ever follow ethics? _Screw it_, he thought. _I'll just have to forget about it for now._

"Work tomorrow, don't be late, and don't be hung over either. I don't need another one of those days where I have jittery Cameron making idiot diagnosis'."

"How can you even know if I'm late or not, you're always the last one to the office," she said, challenging him.

"Because I have the wombat and the car thief to tell me if you weren't there when they got there," he said in a "duh" tone. Cameron rolled her eyes and then flashed him a small smile, which seemed to make his heart do something funny. _Get out, get out!_ his mind screamed, and he walked out of the small apartment, shutting the door behind him.

Cameron smirked a bit as she watched him leave. "I'm not going to let him figure me out," she said to no one in particular. She then retreated to her bedroom and put on her pajamas, which consisted of a tanktop and a pair of baggy sweatpants. She wondered what House would think of her if he saw her in them. Would he think she was cute? Oh, of course not, House doesn't do "cute". She took a swig of her vodka.

"I'm going to figure her out sooner or later," House said to Wilson as he sat down on his couch and ate the small cherry tomato that he'd stolen from his friend's salad.

"Why do you need to figure her out?" asked Wilson.

"Because, I just do."

"Because you just do… really good answer, House, your best yet."

"I try."

"Listen, are you sure you're not doing this because you have feelings for her? Because you know-"

"Yeah yeah Jimmy, I know, you tell me the same thing every time, and every time I tell you that I don't have feelings for her. Leave it alone."

"Okay…I'll save it for next time then," he said wit ha small smirk. House rolled his eyes, then got up and left. He sat in his office with his feet up on his desk and tossed his ball in the air. Did he really have feelings for his littlest duckling? _Hmm, yet another puzzle to piece together,_ he thought with a smirk on his face.

TBC……..

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	3. Chapter 3

A/N: sorry about the short hiatus guys, lots of stuff came up such as our school play, and immediately after that we had senior trip, which was a very fun and very tiring five days. I know I don't update as much as I should, but have faith my readers! I'm always working on a chapter, I just have to find the time to finish and publish it. Oh, and btw, I love you guys who review. Seriously, you rock!

Work the next morning went on as usual

Work the next morning went on as usual. Cameron was there first, she made fresh coffee, and answered House's mail. When she was done, she headed down to the clinic, and by the time she got back up, House would be arriving. Once she found out that today he was being very late, she decided to make a fresh pot of coffee for when he got in. The last thing she needed was him bitching at her for the tiniest of things. 

She sat back down and looked at a chart that she hadn't finished the day before, and was so engrossed in it that the rest of the world was droned out. 

"Cameron…Cameron….Cameron!"

The brunette's head shot up at her name being shouted. It was House. He was standing over her, those beautiful blue eyes staring into hers. She was memorized for a mere second before focusing in on how close he actually was. She blinked rapidly and inched away from him. "What?" she asked with a bit of an annoyed tone.

"There's coffee over there, but none in my mug," he said as he held out his usual red mug to her. Allison remembered her plan for today. _Don't let him bother you Allie, he just wants to make you weak, don't let him bother you!_ She got up and took his mug from him. She then went over to the coffee pot and poured the steaming hot liquid into the bright red mug. She put in two sugars and a cream, and then handed it to him with a smile on her face. This seemed to puzzle the elder man, why was she being so smiley when he knew that he was annoying her?

Cameron sat back down like nothing had happened, and House disappeared into his office. Things went on as normal, House was yelled at quite a few times to go down to the clinic, and eventually sent down Foreman after Cameron reminded him that part of her deal was never having his clinic duty again. Since they had no patient that day, Cameron went to help with NICU, while Chase went to ICU, and Foreman went to trauma. 

At the end of the day, Cameron was tired and slightly depressed because of all the weak children that she had taken care of all day. During the course of her shift, three of the babies had died, and only two were sent home. Watching the parents as they sat with there kids was heart wrenching, but what was even worse, was seeing the number of babies who didn't get one visitor all day. She was already in a slightly depressed mood and only after her shift was over did she realize how bad of an idea going to NICU for the day was. What if House tried to figure her out today? Now what would she do?

With her hopes up that House wouldn't bother her for today, she snuck out of the office and went down to the parking garage to head home. She unlocked her car and opened the door, and when she looked in the passengers side, there was House, sitting right there. 

"Damnit House, what do you want?" she asked as she sat in the drivers seat and turned on the car.

"Oh, is this your car? I thought it was Foreman's, I was going to give him a taste of his own medicine, but while I'm here, why don't you give me a ride home?"

"Why, don't you have your own car?" she asked, slightly annoyed at his constant presence. 

"Nah, I went with Wilson today, but I figure I'll let him have a day off from giving me a ride back."

"Get out, House," Cameron spat, obviously angry now.

"No, now come on, just drive me home, pwease?" he asked as he turned towards her and gave her the best puppy dog eyes he could give, which to his advantage, was pretty cute to Cameron. She sighed and turned on the ignition, and pulled out of the hospital's parking garage. She put herself on auto pilot as she drove to House's place, not saying a word to him the entire time. 

About ten minutes later, she pulled up at his apartment and put the car in park. "See you tomorrow, House," she said tiredly. A few seconds later, he still wasn't getting out of her car. "House, what are you doing?"

"I forgot my keys at the hospital," he said with an 'I-did-this-on-purpose-but-you're-not-supposed-to-know-that' look on his face. "It's okay, I'll just stay the night with you. I happen to always bring an extra set of clothes with me."

An explosion of emotions hit Cameron immediately. She rolled her eyes and then headed to her apartment, trying to figure out what the hell she was going to do. She only had one queen sized bed, and she knew that his leg couldn't handle a night on a couch. She guessed she would end up sleeping on the couch tonight.

When she finally got home, she let House in and gave him some ground rules. He was not to touch her things in the bathroom, he wasn't allowed to snoop, and he wasn't allowed to look for her diary. Other than that he could have a field day with her.

"Oh, and House?" she said as she turned around and faced him just before going into the kitchen. 

"Yes mistress?" he said in a low and sarcastically seductive voice. 

"No figuring out my puzzle." With that, she turned around and went into the kitchen, successfully drawing House's eyes towards her easily swaying ass. 

House had to physically push his jaw shut after watching his littlest duckling put on a show like that. He shook himself off and then decided to make himself comfortable on the couch.

After dinner had been served, and TV had been watched, Cameron was just coming out of the shower, and was ready to go to bed. House had changed into what he was going to wear for the night, and now was just waiting for Cameron to settle them in. 

She came out in a terry cloth robe that was light blue with little fishies on it. 'How fitting,' House thought. 'She's such a child.'

"Well, I guess you'll be taking the bed, I don't want you to wake up complaining that your leg is hurting you, I'll take the couch for the night."

"Why can't we both take the bed, it's queen sized, right?"

Cameron's eyes practically bulged out of her head. She hadn't even noticed that he'd broken rule number two. She was too surprised that he was okay with them sleeping in the same bed. "Ummm, I… ummm.."

"Close your mouth," House said, inwardly smirking at how easy it was to set her off track. "Come on, let's go to the bed."

Cameron was still in her stupor as he put his hand on the small of her back and led her into the bedroom. She mindlessly grabbed a pair of pajama shorts and a tank top, and went into the bathroom to change. When she came back out, House had already been settled in bed. She snuggled into her pillow and watched House as he shifted and turned to her. "No inappropriate touching, I don't want to have to pay you in the morning."

This caused Cameron to giggle, and the slightest of smirks appeared on House's face. "I won't," she said innocently. 

"Cameron."

The seriousness in his voice scared her, and she paid attention to him. 

"I know you don't want me to figure out your puzzle, but I can't change who I am, I'm probably going to push you until you break… just fair warning," he said, almost breaking out of his usual personality. Almost.

"Warning taken, I'll do my best to avoid your questions," she told him, half asleep. 

"Go to sleep," he said, half asleep himself. 

"Goodnight House."

"Goodnight Allison."

Cameron started to fall into a light sleep when…

'Did he just say _Allison_?' flew into her mind. Great, now she wouldn't get any sleep.

A smirk rested on House's face the entire night as he slept. 


	4. Chapter 4

A/N I was very pleased with the amount of reviews, if you guys have any suggestions, definitely tell me and I'll do my best to work them into the plot!

A sigh emulated from the young blonde's lips as she woke up the next morning. It took her a while to remember what had happened the night before. She sat up and looked over to find the other side of the bed empty. The only thing there was a note on the pillow.

_Thanks for the bed._

_H._

Cameron smirked a bit when she got out of the bed and tossed the note haplessly into a drawer with a few mementos that she had collected since she started working there.

She heard a creak that sounded like it was coming for her kitchen, and she immediately assumed that House was still there. She walked into the kitchen with a smile on her face, but it soon faded with what she saw. "Hello Allison." The voice made her blood run cold. She hadn't heard the voice for years, but she knew who it was.

"Jason, what are you doing here?" she asked, trying to sound almost pleasant so that he wouldn't get angry at her right away.

"I'm finishing what I started a long time ago, Allie. Where did you disappear off to? I called you, I asked your mom where you were, you seemed to disappear off the face of the earth! Didn't you know that I loved you, Allison? Didn't you know that my heart ached without you? I still love you." He continued to come forward, and there was something in his hands. She didn't want to know what it was, but she had a feeling she was going to find out.

"You're not going to…hurt me, are you Jason?" she asked him as she backed up towards the wall. She pulled her beeper out of her pocket, hiding it behind her back, and hit the page button. She didn't know who it was last set to, but she made it a 911 page. Everyone was supposed to have known that she was still at home, since it was way too early to be into work.

"Why little innocent Allison…" he said as he pulled out a small knife and approached her quickly but swiftly. Before she could even see it, he had it at her neck. "Who would want to hurt you?"

HouseCamHouseCam

Gregory House was very pleased with himself right about now. He had successfully gotten into Allison Cameron's brain, and he felt pretty accomplished. He was at home, snug in his bed when his phone started ringing. He let it go to the machine, but listened in, since he was awake already.

"House, House pick up the phone, come on, please!" he heard the voice say, which he recognized as Wilson's. He sounded urgent, but then again, when didn't he?

"House, it's…it's Cameron…"

The gruff diagnostician's ears perked up, and he soon sat up. He reached over and picked up the phone. "What's wrong with Cameron that you have to wake me up at friggin 7:30 in the morning?"

"She paged me, 911, but she's not at work yet, she doesn't go in until 8. Something is wrong House, I can feel it. Did anything happen to her last night?"

"No, I'll go check on her, keep your pants on Mr. Intuition." House tried to keep the panic from his voice as he said his goodbyes. He quickly got up and ignored the pain in his thigh as he changed into whatever was lying around at the time. He then grabbed his cane and hopped onto his bike, desperate to go to Cameron's apartment and find that she was still sleeping soundly in her bed.

HouseCamHouseCam

_She was getting back from grocery shopping, since it was her week to do it, the other girls in her dorm had their turns already. When she came back into her room, she found that Jason was already waiting for her. She'd given him a key to her room long ago. They'd been dating for about a year and a half. _

"_Hey sweetie, you weren't waiting long, were you?" she asked with a smile on her face. _

"_Allison, I've been going crazy, where were you? Why didn't you answer your phone! You could have been hurt, or worse, killed! What were you thinking?" Allison could smell the alcohol on his breath. _

"_Jason, have you been drinking?"_

"_So what if I have been?" he yelled._

"_Stop yelling at me!" she exclaimed as she walked over to the table, but she didn't quite make it, he slapped her as hard as he could before she could get there. Eggs splattered on the floor as one of her roommates came in just in time to see her struggling to get up. _

"_Sweetie, are you okay? You slipped." Allison peered up at him with anger in her eyes. He just hit her, and then blamed it on her!_

_The second time he hit her, there was no roommate to stop him. He was drunk, and she hadn't made his sandwich the right way. He kept hitting her and hitting her, until she stopped moving. He took her to the ER and claimed he found her there._

_When she was discharged, she took a cab to nowhere. She didn't even tell her mother where she was going at first. A few months later, she had called the college and transferred her credits to USP, and she lived there and carried out the rest of her schooling. She never wanted to see Jason again._

HouseCamHouseCam

House arrived at Allison's place a good fifteen minutes after he'd received a call from Wilson. He knocked on her door and heard no answer. He knocked again, no answer. When he looked down at the keyhole, it was busted, it looked like someone had broken in. His heart sank into his shoes. Had something happened to his littlest duckling?

He opened the door to the smell of copper. He knew that wasn't good. He immediately started looking for Cameron, and finally found her in the kitchen. The sight was unbearable, he was surprised at how affected he was by it, seeing as he had no human emotions.

Allison Cameron was sprawled out on the kitchen floor. Her hair was matted in blood, and her throat was slit. He ran over to her and pressured her wound, and felt for a pulse. It was weak, but there was one there. His breathing was severely labored, but as he leaned down to listen, he heard no breaths. He had to compose himself to save her life. He was even nervous, it was almost like he was kissing her, but he had to almost kiss her to save her life. He leaned down and placed his lips over hers, and blew a breath into her lungs. He called 911 and then called Cuddy and told her what was going on.

His heart leapt when he heard her start to breathe on her own. It had been a good 8 minutes of him trying to get her to breathe, and finally it was working. A few minutes later, which seemed like hours to him, the ambulance came, and he immediately started barking orders at them. They simply followed his orders and took her straight to Princeton-Plainsboro.

Meanwhile, House paced the bloodstained floors where Cameron had just been. "Shit shit shit," he muttered as he ran a nervous hand through his hair. On his way out, he gave his statement to the police, and then got on his bike and raced towards the hospital.

As soon as he got there, Cuddy was waiting by the doors, and Wilson was there by now too.

"How is she?" House asked as she strode past the dean.

"She's in critical condition, they're trying to stop the bleeding. House, they need more blood. She's type A."

House turned to her and then headed for the clinic. He took out a needle and then stuck it into his arm. "What are you doing?" Cuddy asked as she watched him pull a pint of blood out of his arm. Three needles total.

"I'm blood type O, give her my blood, she needs it. NOW!" he yelled. Cuddy just nodded and then took the blood to go administer it to Cameron. Wilson had been watching from the doorway.

"So what is it about Cameron that makes her special? You wouldn't give your blood to just anyone."

"I also don't want to have to hire another immunologist anytime soon," he lied. He had to push away these feelings he had for her, but how? How could he do that now that she was in a position where she needed him most?


	5. Chapter 5

A/N Thanks for all of your reviews

A/N Thanks for all of your reviews! I love you guys so much! I know chapter four seemed a bit rushed, I knew that before you guys even had a chance to tell me, and I'm sorry for that, I guess it's just kinda how I write, but if I were ever to go back and edit it, that would definitely be one of the things that got changed. Anyway, hope you enjoy this chapter!

Chapter 5

_Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep._

"_God damn, what the hell is that noise?"_

_Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep._

"_Whatever this thing is, I'm going to shoot it. Is it my alarm? Am I dreaming?"_

Allison Cameron opened her eyes for the first time in two days. She was shocked to see that she was at the hospital, and she was a patient, not the doctor. She lifted her left wrist and looked at her hospital bracelet.

"_Two days ago?"_ she thought to herself. "_What the hell happened?"_

She surveyed the room and found that there was absolutely nothing to look at, that is, until she started to tune in with her other senses. She heard a slight crunch, and the sound of some kind of soap on the TV. She couldn't turn her head, so she tried to speak, only to find that she couldn't. There was a tube down her throat, and her neck was in a brace. She could barely move. She lifted her arm again and then moved it to the side, over the railing of the bed, where she touched something polyester.

"Hey, paws off the goods," she heard.

"_Who the hell is that…House?"_ she thought.

"Nice to see you Dr. Cameron, thought I was going to have lunch with the coma girl for a bit longer, but I guess the fun's over now. Sucks, you're much hotter than coma guy. I mean, you weren't really in a coma, but I wanted to give you the fun nickname. You should feel honored. I don't lunch with just anyone who's in a coma."

Cameron just rolled her eyes, and he smirked.

"It's fun when you can't argue back with me, makes my job a whole lot easier, and a lot more fun. Maybe random guys should come and attack you more often, we'll make a tradition!" he said enthusiastically with a sarcastic smile on his face. Allison had put the pieces together when he said that she'd been attacked. She remembered that her ex-boyfriend from college had been there, and that he'd slit her throat almost effortlessly. The fragile brunette closed her eyes, and when she opened then again, she felt a tear slide down her face.

Her emotions tugged at the heart of the diagnostician. He sighed and then wiped her tears away. "Sorry," he said stubbornly, as if he were a three year old who was being forced to say it by his mother. Cameron looked up at him, surprised by his sudden acts of kindness; she didn't think he had it in him.

"Don't you give me that look now, I have a reputation to uphold," he said, pointing his finger at her in a scolding manner. She smiled and then gave him the slightest of nods. He gave her his best ghost smile and then moved the railing on her bed so that he could sit on the bed next to her.

"You scared the shit out of me," he started. "I thought I was going to have to hire a new immunologist and I would lose the sweet caring one who always challenges me. So the next time you scare me like this, I'll save myself the trouble and fire you myself."

Cameron saw this as a weakness. He would always do this when he really cared about someone. He'd threaten them, but he would mean well, and he was doing it now; covering up his concern with sarcasm. He got up and checked her chart. He then came up to her and flashed his penlight in her eyes. "If you can feel this, blink twice, if you can't, blink once."

He reached down and grabbed her big toe through the blue hospital sheets. Cameron blinked twice. He moved up, grabbing her leg, she blinked twice. He moved up to her arm, she blinked twice again. He nodded and then smirked a bit. "Good. Are you feeling any pain? Once for yes, twice for no."

Cameron blinked once, a tear sliding down her face as she blinked. House nodded. "Where? Show me."

She brought her tiny hand up to her neck and ran it over her bandage, and then brought her fingers up to her lips, indicating her very chapped lips from the tube. He nodded and then handed her some chap stick from the drawer next to her. She tried to put it on, but her lips were numb from being so dried out. She handed it back to him with a look of frustration in her eyes. He sighed a little and then held her cheek in one palm. "Hold still," he said as he delicately put the chap stick on her lips. He couldn't help but want to kiss those lips, but he pushed the feeling away and then took off her bandage to see how bad the damage was.

"This doesn't look good my tiniest duckling," he said with a sigh. "I can't give you any more morphine yet, your chart says that your next dose is due at 3, the nurse will be in to give it to you. Umm…" he hesitated. "Do you want me to stay?"

Cameron thought for a minute, and looked anywhere but at him. He was about to turn and leave when he felt her hand on his wrist. She blinked once, and he sat down, watching her. After what seemed like hours of him explaining General Hospital to her, she fell asleep, and he was glad for it. She needed her rest.

He got up and then went straight to Wilson's office. No knock or anything, he just barged right in. The patient he was with hadn't even noticed, since she'd been too busy crying.

"House, patient!" Wilson gestured to the distressed woman in front of him.

"Really don't think that an intruding guest is going to make her feel any worse at the moment," he said as he popped two vicodin into his mouth.

Wilson escorted the patient out of his office and referred her to someone who she could talk to. He then came back in and sat down in his office chair, across from where House was. "This had better be good."

"I'm falling for my immunologist."

"Yes, what else is new? Now what did you come for?"

"Jimmy! I confess it to you and you don't make a big deal out of it? What's the matter with you?"

"Oh come on House, everyone but you and Cameron can see that you like her. Get over yourself."

"I want her to be more than a puzzle."

"Then make her more than a puzzle. Ask her questions about what she likes, DHA, remember? She likes lame, and she doesn't want you to screw up like you did last time. Just be yourself, without the ass part."

"I'm pretty sure that me without the ass part equals no me at all. I'm an ass, everyone knows that, but I don't want to do that to her. Ugh," House got up and paced the room, gripping his cane extra tight. "What am I supposed to say to her to tell her that I like her?" he asked to the ceiling.

"How about 'Hey Cameron,' or Allison if you prefer, 'I like you, will you give me a second chance?' I'm pretty sure that chicks dig the whole apology thing, and I think that will get you pretty far. How is she, by the way? I heard about what happened."

"I don't know, I know she's in pain, but those cuts look so deep Wilson, I can't help but think what would have happened if I hadn't answered your call."

"I would have gone over there myself, it's okay to be angry House, something happened to a girl that you care for, you're not expected to be sunshine and puppies," he said, using one of House's analogies.

"Okay..umm, thanks…." House then sent his friend and appreciative look, the first one Wilson thought he'd ever seen, then left the room and went back towards Allison's room.

TBC………


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Thanks for the reviews you guys! I love getting so many reviews, it really makes me want to write more and more! Well I hope you guys enjoy reading this chapter just as much as I enjoyed writing it. And if you have any suggestions or ideas, make sure you leave it in a review!

Chapter 6

It had been two days since Cameron had seen House. She'd had the tube removed from her throat, and her prognosis was getting better and better. She heard from the nurses that House had been in there, but she hadn't seen him herself. The nurses always told her that he checked up on her daily, but she'd been sleeping. This time she was desperate to see him, she was going to stay up the entire day.

She wasn't surprised when she didn't see him the first half of the day, though she wished she had, so that she could send him to get her some food that was actually edible, she was so sick of hospital food.

She did however, get a visitor around lunchtime. Wilson walked into the room with a balloon, flowers, and a card in his arms. Cameron smiled immediately when she saw the get well balloon written in obnoxious looking letters. He tied it to the handle of the drawer on her dresser, and handed her the card and flowers. She opened it and read the cute little note he'd written about hanging in there. She placed the beautiful red carnations to the side and lifted her arms to him. He walked closer to her and gave her a small hug.

"Thank you Wilson, that was so sweet of you," she said in a very hoarse voice.

"It was nothing, I hope you're feeling better. I'm sorry I didn't come sooner, but I've been busy, and I heard from House that you were sleeping a lot, and I wanted you to get your rest," he said with a small smile always playing on his face. She was so happy to see him, he always brightened her mood for some reason.

"It's okay Wilson, I'm just glad you came to see me, it's nice to see a friendly face every now and then," she said.

Just then, Chase and Foreman entered the room as well. "We heard you were awake," Foreman said as he crossed the room and handed her a gossip magazine that she could read. "Hope you like it, I closed my eyes and picked a random one," he joked. Cameron laughed a little.

"It's the thought that counts, Foreman," she said with a smile. All three men were surprised at both how frail her voice was, and how happy she seemed to be. Maybe it was because she was having guests.

Chase looked a little scared, he looked like if he stared into her eyes, he'd break her. He had a teddy bear and a flower in his hand, but he was all the way across the room.

"Come here Chase, I don't bite, I promise!" she told him with her hoarse little voice.

He crossed the room and placed the teddy bear in her lap, and put the flower with her flowers from Wilson. "I hope you feel better Allison," he said, swallowing hard as he looked down at her.

Cameron looked between Foreman and Chase. "Thanks you guys, come here," she said, hugging both of them. After a few minutes of small talk, Chase and Foreman got a page from House, and had to leave. Wilson stayed with her and talked with her.

"Have you seen House come to visit me?" Cameron asked, he was the perfect person to ask about this, considering he was the only one that could really get into House's head.

"I have, but he said that every time he comes in to see you, you're asleep, he can't get away very much, they have a hard case this week that House just can't figure out. Give him some time, as soon as he's done with his case, he'll come to see you more often." Wilson was sure that his friend was very close to admitting his feelings for his tiniest ducklings, and he hoped that he didn't lose his courage to do it.

"Next time you see him, can you ask him to come see me when he gets a chance? And tell him that if I'm sleeping, he can wake me up."

Wilson nodded and got up when he saw her yawn. "I'll let you get some rest, hope you feel better Cameron," he said with his usual smirk on his face.

"Thank you Wilson," she said as she rolled onto her side and fell back asleep.

HOUSE HOUSE HOUSE HOUSE

It was three more hours before House could find the time to go see Cameron. He walked into her room and found that she was asleep. Wilson had told him that he could wake her up, but he just couldn't bring himself to do it, she looked so peaceful. He never wanted to hurt her, that's why he always pushed her away, he knew that eventually he'd hurt her, and this time, when she cried, it would be because of him, and he didn't know if he could deal with that.

She was so fragile.

House sighed and turned on his heel to limp out of the room when he heard a small groan and a "House?"

He turned around and gave her a once over. Her hair was a tangled mess, She looked like she hadn't slept in ages and her eyes were squinted from the light in them. He wished he could wake up to see that sleepy face every morning, even if he was woken up at whatever ungodly hour she got up at.

"You came," a small voice came.

"Yeah, I came," he mirrored.

"Come sit down, I like it when I get company," she said as she pushed herself to a sitting position and then tucked her tangled hair behind her ears. He reached over onto the side table and picked up her brush. "Want this?" he asked, holding it out to her. She nodded gratefully and started to brush her hair.

"I heard your case this week is really hard. Want an immunologists help?" she asked with a hopeful voice.

"Nope, I have help, but thanks," he said with a smirk, he knew that it would get to her.

"Ugh, House come on, please? I've been cooped up in this hospital for four days, can't you just give me a little sense of purpose while I'm here?"

"Nope, you can have your sense of purpose back when you're back to work, for right now, I don't want you to worry about anything, okay?" he said in an oddly out of character tone. It almost sounded like he cared.

_Almost_, Cameron thought.

"I see you've had some visitors."

"Yeah, Wilson came by and got me some flowers, a card, and that balloon over there, Foreman got me a magazine to read, and Chase got me flowers and a teddy bear," she said.

House scoffed. "Kiss asses," he muttered. "I brought you the greatest gift of all."

"Oh yeah? And what is that?" she played, knowing what he was going to say.

"Me!"

"I hardly think that you're a present, and most definitely not the greatest gift of all."

"You selfish little weasel, you should be grateful!" he teased, a hint of a smirk on his face.

Cameron, to his surprise, kept a straight face. "Believe me, I've been grateful for a very long time," she said with a sigh as she looked down at her hands.

House saw this as an opportunity for another piece to his almost completed puzzle. "Go on."

"No, you'll laugh at me," she said.

"I promise I won't," he said, in that out of character voice again.

Cameron thought about it for a minute, and then sighed. She might as well tell him, since he probably knew half of the story anyway. "House, I think you and I both know that I've liked you for a long time. I hate that you think I only like you because you're damaged. But you're really not, I'm damaged too, you obviously know that since you want to figure out my puzzle so badly. When I first started working for you, I didn't know why, but I was attracted to you. There was just something about your sarcasm that made me want to smile. After I started working for you, I considered quitting for quite some time, but I couldn't get over this nagging feeling about you. The way you insulted the others made me smile and laugh, something I'd almost forgotten to do. House, I don't know why you make me so happy, you just do. I've felt this way for a really long time, and I just wish you'd swallow your damn ego and tell me how you felt!" she said, raising her voice a little bit.

"It's complicated," he said after a moment's pause, then added a sigh.

"Let me in House," she pleaded.

"I can't."

"Please."

"I'm sorry."

With that, House hung his head and walked out the door, then headed straight for Wilson's office.

TBC…………


	7. Chapter 7

WOW it's been forever, sorry about that guys! Lots of stuff going on. I actually had most of this chapter finished the other day, but then I found out that my best friend (it's a guy) kept his girlfriend from me for about a week, so I have stopped talking to him, and I pretty much broke down that night, soooo tonight I finished the chapter, and hopefully I'll have the next one out soon. As soon as track is done, I'll have a lot more time to write, so they should be coming out more often :) Anyway, enjoy chapter seven and don't forget to review!!

"James Wilson, M.D.," the door read. House turned the handle and opened the door, seeing that his best friend was no where to be found. He sighed and plopped down on the couch opposite his bookshelf. He stared out the window, wondering what exactly Cameron had wanted to hear him say. She was so young and intelligent and cunning, annoying, argumentative…and most of all, beautiful. He loved every single attribute she had, and he wanted to know everything about her. She claimed that he just wanted to know her puzzle, and he did, but it was so much more than that. He wanted to know who Allison Cameron was, why she did things the way she did, and why she learned to do them that way. He wanted to know how to make her laugh or cry, or get her into bed. He wanted to know everything there was to know.

He also knew that she was trying to figure out his puzzle too. He figured it wouldn't take her long. His father was mean and unsupportive, and his infarction convinced him that he would never be happy again.

The problem was, he did see himself being happy again. He saw himself in a home, not a house, but a home, with little blue eyed, brown haired girls running around, and he saw a woman in his arms, and that woman was Cameron. He wanted so much to be in her life, but he had been doing things the same way for six years, and it was hard to break that cycle. He was House, he was known as an asshole, a hypocrite and a liar, but most of all, he was crazy. That's the thing Allison loved most.

House's train of thought was interrupted when Wilson walked into the room. He smirked when he saw that he didn't notice him at first. Wilson sat down at his desk and flipped through a few files before finally looking up. "What are you doing here?" he asked with a sigh as he looked back down at his paper.

"Cameron told me she liked me," House said blatantly.

"So what else is new? You know that, right?"

"I didn't deny it."

This made Wilson's mouth hang slightly agape. He sat there and looked at him for a good thirty seconds before speaking.

"Did you tell her how you felt?" he asked finally.

"No."

"Well then what did you say?"

"I told her it was complicated, it is. I want to figure out her puzzle before I let her in. I want to know what she's like, what makes her Allison Cameron. I want to make her angry whenever I want, or make her laugh when I please, I want to know everything about her and I want to make sure that I can make her happy, and more importantly, she can make my miserable ass happy before we even start anything."

"So what did she say to that?"

"She asked me to let her in, and I told her I couldn't, and then I said I was sorry."

"Why can't you just tell her how you feel, House? You know damn well that she'll make you happy, she's young and beautiful-"

"Exactly! She's young, beautiful, intelligent, pissy, argumentative and extremely annoying….and I love her." The last part he said was in a whisper, but Wilson heard it. It was incredibly unlike House to admit any kind of feelings except anger and annoyance, but love? Wilson hadn't actually thought that House had ever been in love. He figured that he maybe loved Stacey, but he seemed to have bounced back pretty quickly after the second time he pursued her, so he couldn't have been deeply in love. This was different. House was acting weird. He really must have loved her.

Wilson nodded a bit and then looked down at his desk, then back up at his friend. "Well, what if you told her about parts of your feelings, and then maybe she'll tell you her whole life story, and let you in a bit more. A relationship is give and take, House, you have to give her a little bit too. Tell her about your childhood, who your first girlfriend was, how sucky your senior prom was…"

"How do you know my senior prom was sucky?"

"Senior prom is always sucky."

"Right." House brought his hand up to his chin and rested it there. He then sighed and got up, and went to his office to think.

Of course about a half an hour later of thinking, he fell asleep in his comfy chair.

HOUSE MD HOUSE MD HOUSE MD

Since House had left Cameron's room, she hadn't been able to sleep. Usually, she slept a lot from all the medication she was on, but House always had a way of keeping her attention for a very long time. There was just something about him that mesmerized her and kept her asking for more. He was an asshole, a selfish bastard who wanted nothing other than to torture people for his own amusement, but when it really came down to it, he did what was right.

A nurse came in and asked Cameron how she was feeling. She smiled gracefully and told her that she was feeling good. The light blonde haired nurse then informed her that she was going to down her medication since she was feeling better. Cameron knew what this meant; more pain.

Finally after lunch, Cameron was able to fall back to sleep. House had since woken up and made his way to her room. He hadn't even thought about it, he had just simply woken up and gone to her room, like he had done it every day for his entire life.

He stared at her for a good while. He had been thinking before his little nap, and he was ready to let her in, but only a little bit. Since Stacey, he was scared beyond his wits that she would squash him like a bug, something that he'd told her he wouldn't do only a few years back.

A sigh snapped House from his thoughts. He looked over at his duckling and saw that she was starting to stir. He sat up a little and cleared his throat. Cameron heard him and woke up fully.

"House," she said in a slightly surprised tone. She really hadn't expected him there because of the last time they talked, but she guessed he must have gone to Wilson or something.

"Allison." The use of her first name shocked both of them. He _never_ used her first name. Not even when he was angry at her. First names were too personal, he just didn't use them, not even for his boss.

"Ummm…" Cameron looked away and out the window. It was raining, but to her, it was beautiful, she loved the small things in life, and she secretly would go outside on the days it would rain, and jump in the puddles before heading home from work. It was her one thing that she just couldn't live without. It made her feel like a kid again, no worries, no responsibilities, just being carefree.

"My prom sucked," House said, catching her attention. A small smile formed on her pretty little face.

"What?"

"It rained. My date was ugly, and all my friends were sitting at different tables. I had to follow her around all night and dance with her or else she got angry. The food sucked, I just didn't want to be there."

"My prom was amazing," Cameron started. If they were sharing, she might as well share too. "I went with my best friend Joey. He was really cute, had a great personality and everything. I wore this beautiful crème halter dress that had all the guys staring. We had a great time, and the weekend down the shore afterwards was perfect. Maybe you should have come to my prom, I wouldn't have dragged you around all night," she told him as an amused tone took over her voice.

"I was finishing college when you were graduating high school," he said honestly.

"Who said age ever mattered?" she asked him with a shrug of her shoulders. House shrugged as well.

"No one, I guess."

"Can you get me out of this hospital any time soon?" she asked, changing the subject.

"Yeah, but you're not fit to stay by yourself, got any family around?" House asked, silently hoping to god that she didn't.

"No…but I'm sure Chase would let me stay at his place."

"Yeah right, like I would let you stay with that idiot intensivist. You can stay with me, I'll take some time off so I can take care of you. It's the perfect excuse to get me out of clinic duty!" he said with an enthused tone. Cameron could see right through it.

"Whatever you say House."

"That is Master House to you, while you're staying at my place."

"Oh yeah? Then you're going to have to call me Mistress Allison while I'm staying there, it's only fair," she said in a mocking tone.

"Fine, but just keep in mind, I don't call just _anyone_ mistress, this is only a special situation."

"You got it, House," she said with a beaming smile.

"Ahem!"

The gorgeous brunette rolled her eyes. "_Master_ House."

"That's it, now come with me _Mistress…_"

TBC...

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	8. Chapter 8

Well, here is chapter 8 guys, and only 5 days since my last update! See, I told you I would have more time now that track is done! This chapter is a bit shorter, but I feel that I portrayed what I wanted in this chapter, and left it open for the next chapter. There's a lot of good detail in this one, you guys will get inside their heads :). I hope you enjoy chapter 8 and leave me reviews! I was slightly disappointed with the last batch of reviews, and I'm not getting the e-mails about them, is anyone else having this problem or is it just me? Anyway, hope you enjoy this chapter.

CHAPTER 8

"AHHH! What is that?" a voice shrieked from the guest bedroom.

House poked his head into the room and smirked. "Hey! Don't be mean to Steve, what did he ever do to you?"

"Who is Steve, and why is he in here?" The small rat looked up at Cameron and continued to nibble on the piece of lettuce that was in the cage. He cocked his head at her and squeaked.

"Aw, look, you've upset him, shame on you Cameron, shame on you. Steve is my rat, and this is where he lives. If you have a problem with that I guess he can sleep in my room for tonight."

"That's alright, I think I'll be okay," she said as she moved to the mirror and started brushing her hair. House watched her, and she reminded him of an innocent porcelain doll; so perfect and untouchable. She stroked her hair with the brush gently, watching as it moved through smoothly. He wondered if she always looked so innocent, or if he was just not paying attention. His money was on the latter.

"Are you going to be okay in here by yourself?" he asked, mentally kicking himself for sounding like he actually cared.

It wasn't until Cameron turned around that House's heart stopped beating for just a second. The small smile on her face and the blush in her cheeks made him want to melt into his shoes. He hated himself for it. He'd promised himself over and over again that he wasn't going to let another girl into his heart for as long as he lived, but here she was, stealing his heart right out of his chest.

"Ummm, I don't know. I think I'll be okay."

"Well if you ever need some company, you can crawl into my bed, but don't think I won't cop a feel if you do," he teased, adding a wink. It made her smile, and his heart stopped beating again. This woman was going to kill him.

"Thanks House, I know how much that means coming from you," she told him as she finished brushing her hair. She came over to him and got on her tippy toes and kissed his cheek. He flinched slightly. "Goodnight Master House," she told him with a smirk on her face. He smiled back, actually smiled.

He watched her petite frame climb into the bed with some difficulty. He could tell that the medications were slowly starting to wear off, and it was taking a toll on her small fragile body. She pulled the covers up to her chin and then turned the side table light off. House then turned off the main light for the room.

"Goodnight Allison," he whispered.

"That's Mistress Allison to you," he heard. He chuckled, he didn't think she'd heard him, but apparently she had. He turned on his heel and then went to his own bedroom.

He had a king sized bed and for some reason only slept on one half of it. He didn't even know why he'd bought a king sized bed. When he used to have Stacey in his bed, he had had a queen, and it had been big enough for the both of them, but he guessed that it was a king sized bed to fill the king sized void in his heart. Now he had Cameron, and he wanted her to fill that void.

Not many women could really get under his skin, but Cameron was good at it. She crawled under his skin and stayed there forever, she never left his mind alone. Now that he was this close to her, he felt as if he was never going to free himself from her vice like grip.

He ran a hand over his face and sighed. He needed to get this girl out of his mind, but she was all he could think about. She had permanently etched herself into his mind, and now he couldn't get her out.

House didn't sleep for most of the night. He would wake up every hour and just stare at the ceiling. Having Cameron so close to him was affecting him way more than he thought it would.

At around 3am, he heard footsteps making their way across his hardwood floor. He heard them stop in front of his door, and the door opened slightly. The footsteps came closer, and his heart seemed to beat faster and louder. He almost sat up to shh it when she stood directly in front of his bed.

A sigh escaped the young woman's lips as she slipped into his bed. House didn't know how to react at first. His heart was beating out of his chest and every once in a while, he would feel short of breath.

About a half an hour later, House still hadn't moved, but he could tell that Cameron was still awake. Her breathing was still normal, she hadn't fallen asleep yet, and he wondered if she'd slept yet all night. He had for a little bit, but he had gotten about a total of two hours of sleep so far, nothing more. Now that Cameron was in his bed instead of the next room over, he wasn't going to get any kind of sleep tonight.

Cameron's mind was having a huge battle. It had started when she'd woken up in a cold sweat. Dreams of her attacker plagued her mind, and after the last one, her mind refused to grant her any sleep. She remembered House's words, and she figured that he must have been at least half serious when he'd said them. Besides, he'd probably be going around the hospital bragging that he had a young woman in his bed last night, sparing the gossiping nurses the details that would lead them to believe that Cameron slept with him. She wasn't looking forward to those rumors.

She had noticed a change in House since the attack, though. Before, he'd wanted to figure out her puzzle in the meanest way down. He wanted to tear her down to nothing, and reduce her to a story. Now, he was letting her in on parts of his life before she told him about hers. This was a huge change. Something had happened to him between the time she'd entered the hospital, and now, as she lay in his bed contemplating what to do.

Ten minutes later, her overworked mind fell to sleep, and the dreams consumed her once again. She started crying and murmuring scared yelps in her sleep. House turned to her and shook her gently. "Allison," he said lightly, he didn't know why he was using her first name all of a sudden, it just seemed like it was high time that he treat her like a human being.

She woke up and looked over at House. He pulled her into his arms and calmed her down. When she stopped crying, he pulled away and looked at her. "Are you okay now?" he asked. She nodded and laid back down.

She wasn't okay. A moment later, she made a move, and turned on her side, rested her head on his shoulder, and wrapped an arm around him. He stayed still for a long moment. Cameron almost pulled away, but right before she did, he wrapped his arm around her.

"Goodnight Allie," he said softly.

"Goodnight Greg."

TBC...

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